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Highly touted Sano, Buxton to play in Futures Game

Highly touted Sano, Buxton to play in Futures Game

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By Kelly Erickson
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MLB.com |

MINNEAPOLIS -- Only in his first year in the Twins' farm system, Byron Buxton has already shown why he was the second overall Draft pick a year ago.

Days after being promoted to Class A-Advanced Fort Myers, the 19-year-old outfielder was named to the roster of the U.S. Team at the Sirius XM All-Star Futures Game on July 14. Organization mate Miguel Sano will join Buxton at Citi Field in New York and play for the World Team.

"That Futures Game is a great tool for Minor League Baseball to showcase the best talent in the game," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. "I think if you talk to anybody that ranks that Minor League prospect list, those guys are up there pretty stiff. Major League Baseball loves it when you make those types of guys available."

The Twins' No. 2 prospect, Buxton boasted a .341 batting average in 68 games for Class A Cedar Rapids, with 55 RBIs and 33 extra-base hits, including eight home runs. He also held a .431 on-base percentage and a .559 slugging percentage with the Kernels.

While Ryan has mentioned that the young prospect is still working on his baserunning, Buxton stole 32 bases with the Kernels.

"The only reason I think it makes a lot of sense is because he's ready to go to that type of venue," Ryan said.

Sano, a third baseman, was named to the World Team roster.

Sano -- the Twins' No. 1 prospect -- spent the majority of the season with Fort Myers. In 56 games for the Miracle, Sano put together a .330/.424/.655 line with 68 hits, 16 home runs and 17 additional extra-base hits. The slugger also picked up 48 RBIs and stole nine bases.

On June 9, Sano was promoted to Double-A New Britain and has seen action in 13 games with the Rock Cats. With only six hits in 40 plate appearances so far, Sano's batting average fell to .150 at the new level. But despite the natural adjustments he faces with a higher level of play, Sano has knocked out two home runs and picked up a triple over his six hits for eight RBIs. He has also walked on eight occasions.

"There are years that we would deny a player going if we don't think he's ready," Ryan said. "In this case, we certainly think Sano's ready."

The 15th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game takes place at 1 p.m. CT on All-Star Sunday at Citi Field in New York and can be seen live on MLB.com, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD and followed live on MLB.com's Gameday. In addition, XM Radio will broadcast play-by-play coverage of the event live on MLB Network Radio XM 89. MLB.com will also provide complete coverage before, during and after the game. Fans can stay updated by following @MLBFutures on Twitter and can send/receive tweets to/from the U.S. and World Team dugouts during the game by tagging tweets with the hashtags #USDugout and #WorldDugout.

Also, for the first time, fans will determine the final player on the U.S. and World Team rosters by casting their votes in the All-Star Sunday Futures Finalists ballot. There are five candidates for each team, and voting ends on Sunday at 10:59 p.m. CT.

Kelly Erickson is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.